Merck & Co's MK-0431A NDA accepted by FDA

USA-based drug major Merck & Co says that the Food and Drug Administration has accepted the New Drug Application it submitted in relation to the developmental diabetes drug MK-0431A. The product, which combines Januvia (sitagliptin phosphate) with metformin, is designed as a novel treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Peter Kim, president of Merck Research Laboratories, welcomed the news, adding that "the majority of type 2 diabetes patients require multiple therapies to control their blood sugar. MK-0431A could potentially be the first fixed-dose tablet of a DPP-4 inhibitor combined with a widely used and long-standing mainstay of type 2 diabetes treatment, metformin."